This is a brushed aluminum version of the beautiful brass keyboard unveiled a while ago by Jake Von Slatt over at the Steampunk Workshop.
This was a commisioned piece I put together for a customer who contacted Jake after seeing it on the internet. Jake was not interested in reproducing his design, or as he puts it, “that sounds like work….I do this kind of stuff as my antidote to work”, so he quite generously kicked the referral over to me. I’ve got projects to finish and a cross-country move to fund, so I was more than happy to take on the commision.

This was the keyboard I fell in love with. I wouldn’t call this style “Steampunk” but it is something that looks like it came out of the 1930s. It’s what I call the “Restoration Hardware” or “DC-1 Aviation” look. I wouldn’t call this Art Decco but it is “retro” but if anyone has a name for this…please comment??? Also there was sort of the teardrop design for various cars, smooth edges, very clean looking designs…I keep thinking of some of Howard Hughes designs like his speed place he flew. Unfortunately a great deal of these designs also came from Germany during WWII, naturally I disagree with the politics and horrible things that happened back then. However the cars, airplanes and many other things were just very sleek and stylish from the late 1920s to the 1940s, this was perhaps the finest hour in terms of product designs and fashion.